Dutee Chand to sell her BMW to meet training expenses amid lack of funding

Dutee Chand to sell her BMW to meet training expenses amid lack of funding

Dutee told that "It was a difficult decision for me to put up that post... Had there been an Olympics, I would have been all set, but, as the Games have been postponed by a year, I am unable to support myself"

Dutee Chand is national champion in the women's 100 metres dash event

India's 100-metre national-record holder Dutee Chand has put her 2015 BMW 3-series car on sale to raise funds for training. The 24-year-old had reportedly bought the luxury car for Rs 30 lakh in 2018 and wants to sell it to cover the training cost for the Olympics 2021.

Dutee Chand said, "No sponsor is willing to spend on me due to this (COVID-19) pandemic. I am in need of money and so have decided to sell it off to meet my training and diet expenses as I'm preparing for the Tokyo Olympic, which has been shifted to July 11, 2021, due to Covid-19 Outbreak." She added that "Even (State) Government people are saying they are going through a financial crunch."

When asked whether she had received the BMW as a gift or she purchased it on her own, Dutee said: "I bought it after I received a cash reward of Rs 3 crore from Orissa CM Naveen Pattnaik for my achievement in Asian Games, On that money, I built my house and purchased the BMW Car."

Chand shared the pictures of her BMW car on her Facebook page, with a message in Odia which said, "I want to sell my BMW car. If anyone wants to buy, contact me on messenger."

After the Facebook post, comments started pouring in seeking the government's intervention to help her. Later, the sprinter queen deleted the post.

Dutee also told that "It was a difficult decision for me to put up that post... Had there been an Olympics, I would have been all set, but, as the Games have been postponed by a year, I am unable to support myself."

"Since I have two other cars with me, also there is not enough space for 3 cars at my residence, so I want to sell one."

The Government had granted Rs 50 lakh for her training for Tokyo Olympics, she said. She spends around Rs 5 lakh a month on her training which includes salaries of coach, physiotherapists, dietician and other purposes.

"I exhausted all my money. It is now difficult to get sponsors due to COVID-19 pandemic for my training for the Tokyo Olympics which has been shifted to July 2021 due to COVID-19 outbreak."

"I need money for my fitness expenses and training in Germany, I decided to sell my luxury car," added Dutee Chand.